One blessing at a time

competition

Welcome to a new week! A weekend with almost no set plans sure can be refreshing and I’m ready to rock this week.

Like I told you on Friday, I participated in Food Lion’s Frugal Cook-Off and was the co-winner of the competition. My partner Valerie and I created a spicy Mexican meal consisting of seasoned and lightly sauteed chicken breasts with a yogurt sauce, simple rice and red beans, and a vegetable saute of corn, onion and bell pepper.

Without further ado, here are the recipes for our meal…(hint: you have to scroll all the way to the bottom for the giveaway!)

{Award-Winning} Spicy Chicken Fiesta

Created exclusively for Food Lion’s Frugal Cook-Off Charleston 2014

Makes 4 large servings

Cost of meal: (not including chicken and spices) $12.98

For the Spicy Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons pepper

2 tablespoons oregano

2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

2-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 lemon, additional lemon slices for serving if desired

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup chopped scallions

Directions:

Add olive oil to a large skillet and heat on stovetop over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, add seasonings to a small or medium bowl and stir to combine. One at a time lay chicken breasts in the bowl to coat evenly with the seasonings. Flip to coat both sides. When oil in skillet is hot, add all chicken breasts in the skillet in an even layer. Cook about 6-8 minutes on medium heat. Turn over and continue cooking another 6-8 minutes or until cooked through. Lightly squeeze half of the lemon over top of the chicken breasts.

Remove chicken from heat and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle each piece of chicken with about 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Place in oven heated to 300 degrees for 2-4 minutes or until cheese just starts to melt. Remove from oven and serve overtop of rice and beans, along with spicy Greek yogurt (recipes below). Garnish each piece of chicken with about 2 tablespoons of the chopped scallions.

For the Rice and Beans

Ingredients:

3 cups dry white rice

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Prepare rice on stovetop according to package directions. When almost finished cooking, add kidney beans and seasonings to the pan. Stir well. Cook on low for another 5-6 minutes, until heated through. Remove from heat and serve.

For the Vegetable Sauté

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 10-ounce bag frozen corn kernels

1 medium yellow onion, sliced and roughly chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, sliced and roughly chopped

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Add olive oil to a large skillet and place on stovetop over medium heat. Once hot, add all ingredients and stir to combine. Stir occasionally while letting cook for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables become tender and start turning brown. Remove from heat and serve.

For the Spicy Greek Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well to combine. Serve alongside or on top of Spicy Chicken Breasts.

*Optional: serve the meal with chopped romaine and a lemon wedge for garnish

GIVEAWAY

Food Lion was so generous and awarded me with two $250 gift cards! One for me and one for YOU! I very much wanted to put this to the best use. I was thinking for a long time how I could give this gift card to someone who truly needed it. However, I wanted to do something nice for you as well. I ultimately came up with a compromise and decided to do a regular giveaway for you, then pay if forward with the other card. After going through the check-out line with groceries for Greg and I, I handed the card to the person in line behind us so she could use the balance for herself. Whoever wins, I hope you will consider doing the same, or using the card in a way that will impact others. However, it is completely up to you how you use it.Enter the giveaway by doing the actions below:

This week I was given the honor of participating in Food Lion’s Frugal Cook-Off here in Charleston. Myself along with seven other local bloggers gathered at Charleston Cooks! downtown to cook a meal for four with a randomly assigned partner, using a randomly assigned meat, and only $15 (fake) dollars to shop for our ingredients. We had 45 minutes to cook, but who’s counting. Ha!

First let me tell you how lucky I was to be paired with the ever-so talented Valerie, blogger at LiveFit Journey. Although I had never read her blog before, I looked it up first thing upon getting home that night and was instantly even more inspired than when I was cooking in the kitchen with her. Not only is she extremely fit, she shares her workouts and clean eating tips on her blog, and she has started her own non-profit to fight childhood obesity called Generation Healthy Kids. So amazing! When Valerie said she is originally from Ohio just like me, I knew it was fate.

The other bloggers and I spent the first part of the evening mingling and getting to know each other. It’s always so nice to connect in person with people you normally only get to “see” online. The networking alone could have lasted the whole night. But there was cooking to do!

Each team stepped up to the front of the kitchen one at a time to select their meat. The plates were covered, so we didn’t know what we were choosing. Valerie and I were the last to choose and somehow, by the grace of God, revealed a plate of chicken breasts. The other options were tilapia, pork, and ground turkey. I feel most comfortable cooking with chicken by far, so to say I was relieved is an understatement.

The “pantry” was stocked with produce and Food Lion products including the “My Essentials” brand, one of the many private labels Food Lion carries. I have hardly ever shopped at Food Lion, so I was impressed with the quality of produce and store brand products they offer.

Valerie and I quickly decided on a Mexican theme dish. Tacos wouldn’t work because we didn’t have tortillas available. Instead, we lightly sautéed the chicken breasts after seasoning with a variety of spices and served it over rice and beans. For another side dish, we made a veggie saute with corn, bell pepper and onion. Valerie had the idea to create a healthier “sour cream” with spices stirred into Greek yogurt. #loveitsomuch

After the fastest 45 minutes of my life, we managed to plate a complete, colorful, balanced meal to present to the judges. I seriously felt like I was on Chopped, adding the food and garnishes to the plates while the last few seconds ticked away on the clock.

Everyone’s dishes looked very tasty, especially considering I had worked up a giant appetite from the fast-paced competition. The other meals were Greek Turkey Meatballs, Herb Crusted Pork Chops, and Crispy Greek Tilapia. (I will link up to the recipes when their available.)

The three judges rated each dish on presentation, taste, and most bang-for-your-buck. Then the winners were announced…

Hey, that’s me!

Yup, Valerie and I won!!!!! I may or may not have been on a winner’s high for the next hour…or two. My inner-competitiveness, which doesn’t come out too often, was thrilled and honored to be a part of this competition in the first place. To be part of the winning pair was a great feeling. As much fun as the cooking competition was, the other bloggers and the Food Lion team are really what made the night so wonderful.

Next week I will share the winning recipes with you, along with more pictures and a unique giveaway opportunity.

In the meantime click here to view the teaser video to see us in action. Don’t laugh 🙂

Finally, please take some time to check out these blogs by my fellow competitors! They are all Charlestonians and blog about everything from food and family to crafts and fitness.